"Inverse" feather

[Alpha23]

Hi guys,

 

somehow I lack the skill to do do an edit according to my plans. I want to do something like an "inverse" feather. What I mean by this is feathering a selection outwards. first of all here's the picture:

 

I want to "fade" the object in the middle to white. I have the BoltBait plugins installed. Here's what I tried:

- select the background -> "Selection -> Feather" -> hard edges around object/shadows

- select background, invert -> "Selection -> Feather" -> object outline gets feathered/deleted

How can I achieve the effect I need?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Pixey]

To be honest @Alpha23 I'm not sure what you mean by 'inverse feather'.  To me that would mean - a ragged edge. 

 

If you want to change the color of the car to white, then go to Adjustments and choose Black & White.

 

Also, your posted image is way over the allowable size for the forum, please resize it - thank you

[MJW]

I think you need to describe more clearly what you're trying to achieve. If you can't provide an example image, maybe you could tell us what the desired end-result would look like

[barbieq25]

I think maybe the effect you are looking for is actually to do a clear gradient. 

 

Firstly, please resize your original image - 800 x 600 is the max allowed. You can use thumbnails. If you're not sure how to do it please just ask.

 

This is what I did to your image.

1. Resized to 800 x 600.

2. Added a white layer & moved it down to the bottom.

3. On the truck layer, select gradient tool  & set it to transparency mode. 

4. Select the shape of the gradient. I tried radial but wasn't that happy with it, so I used the diamond shape.

5. If you start from the centre it might not be the look you are trying to achieve, where it is fading everything but the centre bit, so right click on the circular nub furthermost from the centre. 

 

If this is not the kind of look you wanted to achieve you will as others have said, give us an example or more information.

 

[BoltBait]

Are you trying to change the background so that it fades to white at the edges?

 

If so, you can do it this way:

 

Place a layer on top of your image and color white all around your item, then blur it until it fades nicely into your background.

 

[T E A L]

I believe I understand what you're saying. Typical feather effects are generated based on bringing transparency into the center of the object, whereas you are searching for taking some of the values outward. BoltBait's old feather let's you do both of those.  Though this can also be accomplished with a zoom blur to some extent.  

 

I created a render of what I believe to be your desired effect by separating the truck object with the eraser, duplicating the layer with the clean edges so I had two copies of it, and using the zoom blur on the layer behind the foremost dupe. Because the zoom blur doesn't simply grow the object but smudges inwards, leaving the dupe in the front preserved the sharpness and integrity of the original object.

 

 

 

[Alpha23]

Well, not exactly what was suggested.
Basically I want to fade to white starting at a certain amount of black. Meaning: I want to select the center object with the Magic Wand and get everything else white. But with very smooth edges.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Alpha23

[Alpha23]

Ok so this is the picture with the center selected and a white layer where I removed the center. I want the edge you see feathered but into the white portion.

 

 

 

Now here's the selection feathered:

Well, 10px is not what I'm after but more like 100px. How can this be done automatically?

Edited March 28, 2021 by Alpha23

[Alpha23]

Here's another edit, that reflects my plan better I think. I need the red portion to be feathered. It's a combination of different shades in the original picture.

Come to think of it, I need a way to feather with a TOLERANCE.
So basically: "select the portion I want to be white (probably multiple steps with the magic wand) -> inverse -> feather with tolerance towards primary or secondary color. Is there a plugin that can do that?

 

[Alpha23]

Searched a bit inside the forums. Turns out I want something that is called a fade. Basically create a white mask around the object and blur it. Gaussian Blur works only to a certain degree - I need the radius to be much bigger...

Sorry for spamming this but I'm trying to learn here. 😕

[Reptillian]

With the red, you can utilize gmic inpaint tool. I think that is what you want.

[Alpha23]

Ok guys, sorry for posting AGAIN! I've finally found what I'm looking for: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/26479-trs-edge-fader-extreme-v-535-june-15th-2014/

 

Basically what I can now do:
- select portion I want to be white with Magic Wand

- create white mask on new layer

- use TRs EFX on unselected mask layer with given radius

(- wait for my shrivelled potato to compute the result)

- combine layers

 

Will play around with it further but here's a first (un-tweaked) result.
Old:

 

And new:

 

I basically "just" wanted the edge of the picture to be invisible on white background. Theoretically I can add an additional Gaussian blur with another mask to blur out the still visible edges.

Turned out to be an odyssey but hey, I've finally arrived where I wanted to be.

Thanks for listening to my rambling - you passively motivated me to do some research and solve the problem myself!

 

[Alpha23]

Just a little wrap-up after some tests.

 

Here's what I did:

• select area I want to be white with the Magic Wand Tool
• create new layer -> fill selected portion white (maybe make some previously unselected parts white too)
• duplicate layer
• mask 1 = Layer 1 (white selected): Gaussian Blur 5px
• mask 2 = Layer 2 (nothing selected): TRs EFX 100px
• on mask 1: delete "hard" Gaussian edges with eraser tool (radius ~ 200, hardness low) to show the faded portions where I want them to show

Here's the result:

 

 

 

Looks like the vehicle is sitting inside the post, eh?

(The "double" shadow is produced by the light source btw if you're wondering)

 

What this edit basically does is brighten the background without the object in front.

 

A little explanation and background why I needed this:

I'm archiving my toy car collection and I take photos from multiple angles. I use the Chart White Balance tool to correct hue and white but darker portions of the picture remain (edge of the light cone - yes I could buy a decent light, I know... 😅). If I use the white balance on an area that is in half-shadow, the picture gets overexposed. Ergo, I can only select an area that is directly inside the light cone but I don't like the darker shade around the object. In the end I create collages with white background out of and this is the part where the effect really shines: Put any photos in one collage and it looks like a single picture because you cannot see the edges pf the photos.

Oh well, the lengths we go to to achieve a result we're satisfied with.

 

P.S.: Maybe I should post a tutorial for those archiving purposes? 🤷‍♂️

[barbieq25]

Oh wow! You got there in the end. A tutorial would be great. It might help others who need to make the same adjustments. 

Well done!